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Thursday, May 9, 2013

Community Spouse Minimum Income Allowance to Increase to $1,939 on July 1, 2013

If a married nursing home resident receives
Medicaid long-term care benefits, his or her community spouse is entitled to
retain a certain minimum level of income called the Monthly Maintenance Needs
Allowance (MMNA). If the community spouse's own income is insufficient to
provide this allowance, income can be diverted to the community spouse from the
institutionalized spouse.

The MMNA is set at 150% of the federal poverty level for a family of two plus
an excess shelter allowance, if applicable. The Pennsylvania MMNA is adjusted
on July 1st of each year to keep up with inflation.

As of July 1, 2013 the minimum MMNA is being increased to $1,939 per month. The
actual MMNA can be higher than the minimum if the community spouse has high
housing cost and is entitled to an excess shelter allowance.

A standard monthly shelter allowance of
$582 a month will be built into the minimum MMNA effective July 1. If certain
housing-related expenses of the community spouse exceed this standard allowance
the MMNA is increased by the amount of these excess shelter costs. This is the
called the "excess shelter allowance."

These minimum income allowance rules are part of the federally mandated
“spousal impoverishment” protections that were enacted in 1988 to avoid the
total impoverishment of spouses of nursing home residents.

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I am a Pennsylvania lawyer with over 35 years experience in estate planning and elder law. I was selected by US News Best Lawyers® as its Lawyer of the Year in Elder Law for 2014 for the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania metropolitan region.
I am of counsel to Marshall, Parker and Weber, a law firm which has offices in Williamsport, Jersey Shore, Wilkes-Barre and Scranton, Pennsylvania. I am past President and a founder of PAELA (the Pennsylvania Association of Elder Law Attorneys). However, the views expressed on this site are my own and not those of PAELA or of Marshall, Parker and Weber.
Most importantly I am a husband, father and grandfather.